It All Ends
by Elliesmile
Summary: Three children who laid down their lives on the 2nd of May 1998. Three interlinked passages detailing the last moments they lived through. Three stories that were never told. It all ends here...
1. Annabelle

This wasn't how she'd wanted it to end. She wanted to go down in glory. She wanted people to know her name. She wanted people to talk about all the heroic deeds she'd done.

Instead, Annabelle Cooper was stood at the edge of one of Hogwarts many towers, wand drawn and tears streaming down her face.

As a Slytherin, she'd been ushered down into the dungeons along with the rest of her housemates. But eager to show the world she wasn't an evil Slytherin (just a great one) she'd hidden behind columns and waited for everybody to pass. Once she was sure they had, she and 5 other young witches and wizards had crept back upstairs to join the fight. Just because they were Slytherin, didn't mean they wanted Voldemort to win. In fact, quite the opposite. 4 of them were half-bloods so the takeover would affect them too. Only 1 of them was pure-blooded. Gideon Filixtrus was a very likable wizard. He was considerate, thoughtful, kind and thought very lowly of racists in wizardry. Annabelle had to admit; she had sincerely liked him and had, at one point, entertained the idea that she may have a crush on the kind-hearted boy.

He was the first to die.

The moment they stepped into the courtyard the raw terror had taken hold. Gideon had been struck just moments after pulling a small, blonde, first year Gryffindor-girl out of the way of a cruciatus curse. She didn't look behind her as he fell, and she ran back inside the castle to take cover, clutching something in her sleeve. Gideon died in agony.

As the other 4 witches and wizards who had travelled with her began throwing curses left right and centre, Annabelle froze. The only thing she could do was run. And she did.

Faster than she'd ever run before, spurred on by the pained screeches of the other students who'd followed her down to the battle. She knew, without looking back, that they were dead now.

She didn't stop until she got to the gap between the courtyard and a small tower that protruded from the side of the main building.

She knew this tower. There was gossip about it during her third year. Sirius Black, the escaped mass murderer had been held there for a few hours before he escaped again. Annabelle forced the door open at the base of the tower, ignoring thoughts that this place was for murderers. Besides, Sirius Black was declared innocent after he died. There was nothing to fear.

Bile rose in her throat as a sickly man's voice called out from about twenty feet away

"Where are you going sweetheart? You're Slytherin aren't you? We won't hurt you. Much!"

Annabelle screamed and dashed inside the tower, slamming the frail wooden door behind her. She tripped up the stone spiral stairs that hadn't been used in years.

"Alohomora!" she shout behind her was followed by the splintering of a door but not the swinging of hinges. The door had not yet opened. Annabelle heard the spell again but the door remained strong. Hogwarts was defending her.

Suddenly, the floor beneath her seemed to give way and the stone stairs fell downwards. Outside the tower, death eaters were assembling and attacking the stone bricks with great force, attempting to pursue the girl who had escaped them. Annabelle hauled herself up the stairs before they could all fall away from underneath her. Eventually she made her way to the top, slamming the wooden door at the top of the stairs behind her. She was trapped.

Behind her was the staircase she had just climbed up. To her left was a small cell, the iron barred door had been wrenched free some time ago and had rusted open, bent on its hinges.

The rest of Annabelle's view was unrestricted sky. The tower was taller than it had looked from below. She peeked over the edge.

Children were lying dead and wounded and three death eaters were still attempting to get into her tower. Hogwarts was putting up a fight for her.

And that's how Annabelle found herself where she was. Crying on top of Sirius' tower. Freezing cold and getting desperate.

She looked back down at the man who'd threatened her earlier. He'd told her she was worth more. She was a Slytherin. He must have been one too.

Annabelle looked down at herself in disgust. She ripped off her green and silver tie and all but ripped her cloak off her shoulders, pulling off her green cardigan with it. And there she stood, in a white shirt and a black skirt. Now she thought about it, her shiny leather shoes looked green in this light too. So she flung those off, aiming them over the side of the tower and managing to hit the death eater who had taunted her on the head. But he just looked angrier and flung curses at the wall harder.

Taking shelter from the cold wind, Annabelle hopped inside the tiny cell atop the tower. It wasn't much better in there. She curled up with her back against the wall, staring at the wall in front of her. Then it caught her eye.

Scratched into the dark, murky stone was a tiny message in oddly angled lettering

_**Tell him I tried**_

_**S.B**_

Annabelle ran her hands against the rougher patch of stone and sighed sadly.

"I wish I could, Mr Black" she whispered. She took slight comfort in knowing that there was a man who had stood in her exact position just a few years ago, believing that he was going to die and he had pulled through. But deeper down, Annabelle knew this was it. This was where she died. She glanced quickly down at her finger nails and on a wild whim, scratched her own message into the rock beneath the previous message, ripping away at her own hands until only hangnails were left. She sat back, admiring her work

_**And so did I**_

_**A.C**_

"You loved Harry very much, didn't you Sirius?" she smiled weakly, standing up and stepping backwards towards the shallow ledge. "I'm certain I'll be joining you soon, Sir"

Annabelle heard the base of the tower break down and heavy footsteps come clanking up the stairs. They were coming.

Annabelle dropped her wand, standing with her back to the ledge. The wooden stick broke in two as it hit the bottom of the tower, the oak splintering as it came in contact with the ground.

The Slytherin girl smiled to herself as she took her last stand on the ledge, overlooking Hogwarts. But she couldn't see the flames that engulfed her school. Her back was to the fight as she stared at the door.

She heard a voice below her. A boy's voice

"She's dropped her wand" it was a panicked tone. Desperate and so very, very lost

"Somebody do something. Help her!" It was the boy again. Nobody could help her now.

She gave a last mournful breath as the wooden door at the top of the tower was kicked down and three figures stood in the doorway

"Avada Cedavra!"

And she fell backwards, following her wand.

Before her eyes permanently closed, her blurry head picked out a large black dog, peering sadly over the edge of the tower. When her mind came back into focus, it was gone.

Then she hit the ground.

And in the air, a single solitary Slytherin house tie fluttered through the breeze, taken by the wind and flying far, far away from the battle. To meadows and streams, away from its fallen owner. The tattered piece of fabric being the only reminder.

It all ends…


	2. Emerson

"Protego Maxima. Fianto Duri. Repello Inimicum."

The chanting continued from around the grounds. Once students had picked up the charm, they too began reciting it, pointing their wands skywards and watching the powerful shield flex and fuse around the school.

Emerson Blake watched from the main stairs to Hogwarts. He didn't know what to believe anymore. Being a third year he still didn't quite understand just how real this was. He didn't understand that, yes, the wizarding world was expecting children to save them. Children, most of them hardly even teenagers yet, were being called into battle.

And he felt helpless. It was all very good being a Hufflepuff. Nobody challenged you, nobody thought badly of you and nobody picked fights with you. But what was the point in being loyal and unbiased in a situation like this. Before now, Emerson was always very proud of being a Hufflepuff. Where would this get him now?

"Blake!" Madam Pomfrey called him out of his daydream "If you don't want to help them, give me a hand"

He wandered over to where the nurse was attempting to charm all of the infirmary beds into an empty classroom on the ground floor

"What are you doing?" he asked "Don't we need these in the hospital wing?"

Madam Pomfrey gave a weak laugh "No, my dear. We can't treat the wounded nearly fast enough if we have to get them up stairs first."

"Are lots of people going to get hurt Madam Pomfrey?"

The kindly nurse stopped what she was doing and bend down in front of the third year, clasping his hands "My dear, dear boy. Many people are going to die."

Emerson flinched "My friends? Not all of them can die…right?"

The matron looked at him sadly "I'd say goodbye to them all. Just in case"

And with that she got up and left.

Before he could take a step there was a huge bang and a ripple cascaded over the grounds, practically knocking Emerson off his feet.

Where before, smaller sparks of blue had begun to rip apart the wall there was now a larger, stronger force that had started to pull away the defences. It made short work of the remaining flimsy barricade.

But everybody in the courtyard could feel it. The light that had finally finished off the shield was flawed. The power behind it was unfaithful to its owner. The wand didn't belong to the wizard casting the spell. Everybody knew who that wizard was though. And he wasn't going to stop.

Silence fell over the grounds. Nobody dared breathe. Praying, hoping that the shield would hold a little longer. Long enough to get the younger years safely inside and for the remaining aurors to arrive as defence.

The silence was deafening

And then he heard the first scream

Emerson spun as another third year behind him fell forwards, the non-verbal killing curse making short work of her tiny frame. And the rest of the death eaters arrived

Emerson suddenly moved. His adrenaline kicking in and basic survival instincts jump starting.

He swung a disarming spell straight at the death eater who'd killed his classmate and then flung them quickly at a stone column. There was a crack as the death eater slumped to the ground.

Once he looked up, Emerson saw the air crackling to life with spells. In the few seconds it had taken to wipe out that first death eater there were many more falling to the ground around him. But there were more fallen students.

Then, out of the corner of his eye he saw her; a tiny blonde Gryffindor first year, sprinting across the empty space and out into the cold night.

She looked wild. Her hair was loose unlike the other girls in the fight. They'd all tied their hair up both as a practicality and to distract themselves before the battle. It waved down her back crazily and knotted and tangled as she moved. She paid no mind to the battle but her eyes were set on another prize.

She crouched, like an animal, beside the first fallen student, who's attacker Emerson had just thrown against a column and began to reach into her robes

"Hey, you!" Emerson cried "What are you doing?"

The girl looked up, her eyes blazing and her teeth bared in an animalistic snarl. She withdrew something small and golden from the pocket. It was like a necklace or a pendant. It looked expensive.

Emerson couldn't believe what he was seeing. In the chaos and horror of battle children were now stealing from their fallen comrades. He felt nauseous and sick to the stomach as the girl stood up and sprinted back into the main castle.

On her way she was almost hit by a curse and was pulled out of the way by a Slytherin boy. As she shoved him off the pendant slipped slightly from her hand and Emerson could see the charm on the end. It was circular and there was something on a hinge in the middle. Before he could see closer there was a scream as the boy who'd helped her was hit by a stray curse. He fell but the little girl didn't look back.

Emerson was caught off guard by a spell flung in his direction. It was a stray disarming curse that had hit him by accident. His wand went flying and ended up metres away, miles out of Emerson's reach from his point on the ground.

He couldn't get to it now. He wasn't even entirely sure where it went at this point. Some poor soul would probably pick it up afterwards to try to defend themselves.

Emerson's head remained blurry as he tried to stand up. His arms and legs stung wildly and his vision wouldn't focus. Then he saw it

Up above him, on what had become to be known as Sirius' tower, was a white shape. A school shirt

When his eyes re-focused again it was a girl. She was standing with her back to the ledge, staring defiantly in front of her.

Her closed palm opened and her wand dropped out of it and splintered on the floor. Whether the drop was intentional or accidental he didn't know, he didn't really think about it.

"She's dropped her wand" he found himself saying, pointing to the girl on the tower. Students who weren't duelling stopped to look up

There was panic in Emerson's voice. He couldn't watch somebody die. He just couldn't

"Somebody do something. Help her!"

Then there was a crackle in the air "Avada Cedavra!"

And she fell backwards.

Emerson turned his head at just the right time to look away and there were screams as a sickly crack echoed from the ground around him.

And then another killing curse came from behind him, muffled. It struck him square in the back

He fell forwards, his head turned towards the edge of the courtyard, facing the freedom of the forest.

And just before he slipped into dark he saw it. What he thought was originally a horse, glowing blue, with antlers sticking out of its head. The stag acknowledged him sadly, turning away and backing into the forest.

The light and warmth faded quickly and painlessly from his eyes

It All Ends…


End file.
